Melexis has announced the release of its new contactless sensor for use in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) and Electric Vehicles (EV) .

The MLX91206 is a customer programmable monolithic Sensor IC featuring Triaxis Hall technology that directly monitors the current flowing in an external conductor such as a bus bar or PCB track. The sensor consists of a CMOS Hall integrated circuit with a thin ferromagnetic layer used as a magnetic flux concentrator, providing a high magnetic gain that significantly increases the signal to noise ratio of the sensor.

According to Melexis, the MLX91206 meets the demand for widespread use of electronics in automotive applications, renewable power conversion (solar and wind power), power supplies, motor control, and overload protection. Typical uses may include Battery Current Monitoring, in Solar Power Converters and automotive inverters driving the traction motor in Hybrid and Electronic Vehicles.

Two product versions are available: the MLX91206CAL for a low magnetic field range of +/-10mT, and MLX91206CAH for a high magnetic field range of up to +/-25mT.